The present invention relates to a method for eliminating faults in a facility for producing and treating or processing containers having a container production device for producing containers and at least one treatment device for further processing the containers, and to a facility having a container production device and at least one treatment device for further processing the containers. Such facilities are used in particular for the production and immediately subsequent treatment or processing of containers.
In the prior art, methods and facilities are known, i.e. with a high processing rate (expressed in the number of processed or treated containers per unit time), in which containers are produced by transforming preforms made from a thermoplastic material, which have been heated to a suitable transformation temperature prior to being transformed. A production method accordingly comprises for example the storing of preforms, the supplying of preforms, the heating of preforms, the transformation of preforms, for example by means of blow moulding, the conveying or transporting of preforms between a store and a heating device and between the heating device and a container transformation device, e.g. a blow moulding device, and the transferring of containers to the downstream treatment devices. The treatment of containers may comprise one or more steps selected from a group including the following: filling containers, sterilising containers, labelling, inscribing and/or marking containers, closing containers, gathering together and/or onwardly transporting preforms or containers, packing containers, combining containers to form ready-to-sell packs and/or transportable units, combinations thereof or the like.
The invention can in particular also be used in a facility in which faults in regular operation occur more frequently in (one of) the treatment device(s) than in the container production device, and/or in a facility in which the average duration of a fault-induced break in operation in one treatment device is shorter than the average duration of an operating fault in a container production device. Examples of such faults are a running-out in the supply of pre-printed labels in labelling machines, destroying of containers when attaching a filling nozzle with excessive pressure or in an offset position onto a container opening in a filling device and, as occurs relatively frequently, an interruption in the supply of caps for closing the container in a closing device.
In such facilities, the individual processing or treatment devices are often synchronised with one another in regular operation, i.e. fault-free operation, that is to say that they are operatively coupled to one another in such a way that they are in synchronisation with regard to the number of containers processed in one process or processing step per unit time.
In such facilities for producing and processing containers, it is already prior art that, in the event of a fault occurring in one part of the facility or in one of the components of the production device or a treatment device, all the devices of the facility which are operated in synchronisation with one another are stopped. Once the fault has been eliminated, each device must be run up again from a stopped state to an operating state necessary for regular operation, including a production speed and possibly further operating parameters, such as heating or processing temperatures, and must be synchronised with one another. Even if the fault has occurred in a device block with a short run-up time, at least the time necessary for running up the device with the longest run-up time is required for the running-up and synchronisation of the facility as a whole.
In facilities having a container production device which comprises a blow moulding device for the stretch blow moulding of preforms made from thermoplastic plastic and an upstream heating device, a further problem lies in the fact that, once the facility has been run up again after an operating fault, the preforms located in the heating device are no longer suitable for the subsequent processing, e.g. due to temporary cooling or being kept too long in the heating device, and therefore must be discharged from the heating device and disposed of or recycled. The same also applies to the preforms located in the blow moulding device and not yet transformed into containers, which are likewise no longer suitable for the further processing if they remain in the blow moulding device until after the break in operation and must be discharged from the device and disposed of or recycled when regular operation is resumed.
The object of the present invention is to avoid or alleviate the problems which occur during fault elimination in facilities for processing containers. In particular, one object is to reduce the downtime after a fault and a fault-induced stoppage of a facility used in production and thus to achieve a longer production time and a higher degree of efficiency. Another object is to reduce, particularly in a facility using blow moulding, in the event of brief faults in a downstream treatment device, the number of preforms having to be discharged from the heating device and optionally also from the transformation device, i.e. the so-called preform losses, and also to reduce the number of containers having to be discharged from the transformation device.